Experimental investigation of a Photovoltaic/thermal(PV/T)water solar collector with micro-nozzle spray jets and a PV/T water solar collector with a narrow single pass water channel
The research in PV/T technology began in the 1970s and ever since many studies have been carried out covering both theoretical and experimental.In order to further enhance the technical and economic feasibility of the collector,there is a strong need for continuous research and development(R&D)of this type of technology with more innovations required in order to extend the range of its potential application for further energy optimization.This paper presents two types of PV/T water-solar collector using a set of micro-nozzle spray jets that will emit sprinkles of water which will serve as a cooling medium for the PV module called PV/Tw(N),and a narrow single pass water channel at 2 cm depth underneath the PV panel called PV/Tw(SP)to improve the rate of heat transfer from the PV panel to the working fluid.The conducted research is aiming to investigate efficient mechanisms in the PV thermal management whilst benefiting from the thermal energy produced via the working fluid(water).The PV/T water solar collectors were designed,fabricated and tested indoors using a low-cost solar simulator.Experimental studies were conducted to analyse the collector performance for both thermal and electrical.The electrical performance of a PV/T solar collector is highly dependent on the temperature of the PV cells.From the experimental results,without the working fluid,when the solar simulator is set at 600 W/m2 in radiation,the temperature of the average PV cells is as high as 60℃.With the working fluid(water),at inlet water mass flow rate of 0.025 kg/s the PV/Tw(N)collector reduces the temperature of the PV cells by 39℃(down to 18℃)meanwhile PV/Tw(SP)can only reduce the temperature by 14℃(down to 43℃)at the same flow rate.As a result,the electrical efficiency of the PV/Tw(N)collector is higher than PV/Tw(SP)by approximately 11%.For the PV/Tw(N)design,water that sprinkled on the back surface of the PV panel leaving the collector through the drain holes that were made at the base of the duct.Thus,in the analysis of the thermal performance,the thermal output from PV/Tw(N)cannot be well defined since accurate measurement cannot be made to the water leaving the collector through the drain holes.Meanwhile,the thermal output from the PV/Tw(SP)can be measured and resulted in thermal efficiencies of up to 50%.
Photovoltaic/thermal water micro-nozzle narrow channel PV thermal management
Hasila JARIMI Stefan DOOKERAM Saffa RIFFAT
The University of Nottingham,United Kingdom
国际会议
武汉
英文
386-393
2018-08-21（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）